Why, oh why is it so necessary to heavily qualify, quibble, and cast doubt about "is it or aint it," in this, of all encyclopedias? I fear personal prejudice is much more heavily at work here than any will admit.
"...sometimes (controversially) described as a religion." Indeed! If this is the best we can do, we otta be ashamed. The controversy over Scientology, and what each side has to say about it, is pretty evenly covered in the Scientology article, itself. If one is curious, one can go there. But figure - we spend a few minutes or days at most on such subjects as these with which we are not personally intimately familiar. Courts, on the other hand, pore over proven documentary and testimonial evidence intensively to arrive at their decisions. I have read about sixty court decisions involving Scientology. Some have dealt with criminal or civil matters, and some constitutional. As near as I can tell, no court has ever found Scientology not to be a religion. The thirty-some decisions I have read on the subject, including in countries (like Germany and Fance) where lawmakers have denied recognition, have, one and all, found that Scientology is "a religion" or "religious in nature" or "deals chiefly or exclusively with religious matters." For example: from the 1983 Australian Supreme Court decision on the subject -
"21. The conclusion to which we have ultimately come is that Scientology is, for relevant purposes, a religion. With due respct to Crockett J. and the members of the Full Supreme Court who reached a contrary conclusion, it seems to us that there are elements and characteristics of Scientology in Australia, as disclosed by the evidence, which cannot be denied. They bear repetition, with particular reference to the indicia which we have suggested. The essence of Scientology is a belief in reincarnation and concern with the passage of the "thetan" or the spirit or soul of man through eight "Dynamics" and the ultimate release of the "thetan" from the bondage of the body. The existence of the Supreme Being as the eighth "Dynamic" has been asserted since the early writings of Hubbard (see Science of Survival, Book I, pp. 60 and 98, Book II, pp. 244, 289). The ideas of Scientology satisfy the first two indicia: they involve belief in the supernatural and are concerned with man's place in the universe and his relation to things supernatural. Scientology in Australia also satisfies all of the other abovementioned indicia. The adherents accept the tenets of Scientology as relevant to determining their beliefs, their moral standards and their way of life. They accept specific practices and participate in services and ceremonies which have extra-mundane significance. In Australia they are numbered in thousands, comprise an organized group and regard Scientology as a religion. It was submitted that Scientology lacked comprehensiveness particularly as regards the nature of, and man's relationship with, the Supreme Being. It has been seen, however, that that is something which Scientology shares with the great Indian religions from which some of its ideas would appear to have been derived. It was also submitted that the fact that Scientology does not insist that its adherents disavow other religious affiliations indicates that it is not a true religion. That, again, is something which could be said of a number of religions including Hinduism, some types of Buddhism and Shintoism. Again, reference was made to some unusual features of membership in the organisation and to the strong commercial emphasis in its practices. However incongruous or even offensive these features and this emphasis may seem to some of those outside its membership we cannot think that of themselves they can outweigh the other considerations to which we have referred. (at p176)
22. As has been said, each case must be determined on the basis of the evidence adduced. With all respect to those who have seen the matter differently, we do not consider the present case, when approached on that basis, to be a borderline one. Regardless of whether the members of the applicant are gullible or misled or whether the practices of Scientology are harmful or objectionable, the evidence, in our view, establishes that Scientology must, for relevant purposes, be accepted as "a religion" in Victoria. That does not, of course, mean either that the practices of the applicant or its rules are beyond the control of the law of the State or that the applicant or its members are beyond its taxing powers. (at p176)"
Now - each of us may personally believe that this or that religion, or all religion, is heretical, hokum, harmful, hare-brained, or any number of things beginning with "H." Does that somehow confer upon us the authority to gainsay the fact that every single religious scholar or court who has ever studied and written on the subject acknowledges Scientology is a religion? We can flippantly reduce this to "...sometimes (controversially) described as a religion." ? This feeble pretense at "impartiality" betrays either an apalling ignorance of historical fact or a deep-seated animosity. Better we should do this: Drop any reference in the L. Ron Hubbard article to "is it or aint it" and simply link to the Scientology article. The curious may follow the link, and be treated to our best efforts at an even-handed treatment of the subject. This will solve the problem of how to mention the subject of "religion" in the Ron Hubbard article without betraying bias.
This, as Jimbo Wales once commented, is a real test of the ability of Wikipedia to avoid bias. There are feelings of blood-letting intensity on both sides of this issue, and we gotsta see if we can keep them entirely out of view in our authorship.
While we are on the subject, who is up on the pending French legislation (discussion here: http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/irf/irf_rpt/irf_france.html ) which would brand everything but Catholicism, Judaism and Islam as a "sect," and provide that if any two members of a "sect" were ever convicted of certain crimes (including "mental manuipulation" or something like that), then that group would be disbanded in France as a matter of law. So, if priests molest little boys, Catholicism is not called to task; but if two Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhists (yes, Buddhists) or whatever shoplift, embezzle, or talk a girl into joining against her parents' wishes, then that denomination is disbanded. The authors of the bill say that it is to promote freedom of conscience. does this strike anyone as odd?
The entire country of Paris strikes me as odd. :-D --KQ
Way i read it somewhere was that Hubbard talked with Robert Heinlein about starting a religion back in the "old days" and Heinlein wrote about it ([Stranger in a Strange Land]?) while Hubbard went ahead and did it! --JohnAbbe